God Given Gifts
by Dept.Of.Redundancy.Dept
Summary: Monica and Gracie are an assignment to help a boy learn to accept and appreciate the talent that God has given him rather than wanting what someone else has. Sequel to Trust Me. Any comments good or bad are appriciated!
1. Chapter 1

"Do you hear that Gracie?" Monica asked parking the car in front of Miss Barnaby's School of Music.

"Here what?" Gracie asked.

"That flute."

"Yea I hear it." Gracie said. "What about it?"

"That is the music of fourteen year old David Munley."

"It's beautiful." Gracie said.

"Maybe you can ask him about it."

"What you mean just walk in and talk to him? Won't that seem a bit weird? You know considering I don't even attend classes there."

"But you do take classes there Gracie."

"Monicaaaaa," Gracie said dragging out the A. "What are you getting at?"

"Let's just say that your piccolo is in the back seat." Monica told her.

Gracie head snapped towards the backseat of the car. She did a double take when she saw the small black piccolo case that she could have sworn was not there was a minute ago.

"The piccolo?" Gracie groaned.

"I think it's a very nice instrument." Monica said. " Your lesson begins at five o'clock in room 102." Monica opened her pocket watch and checked the time. "That gives you a good half hour to talk to David."

"Okay." Gracie sighed and picked up the small case.

"Have fun!" Monica called.

"I'll try!" Gracie called back, running up the stone steps to the music school.

Once inside Gracie followed the sound of the lovely flute music to room 105. She paused at the door to watch David play. She thought it was amazing how well he could play. It seemed as if his fingers were flying.

"That was beautiful!" Gracie exclaimed. David almost dropped his flute at the sound of her voice.

"Oh! You scared me." David gasped.

"Sorry." Gracie said. She walked in and helped herself to a seat next to David. "I'm Gracie by the way."

"David." David introduced himself. "David Munley."

"What song were you just playing?" Gracie asked.

"Actually it wasn't a song." David informed her. "It was a scale."

"Well it was nice."

"Thank you. I've playing since I was five years old."

"I can tell." Gracie said. "So do you just play in here by yourself?"

"Well my lesson actually ended an hour ago but I wanted to practice a bit more."

"You really love to play your flute." Gracie observed.

"Yea it really relaxes me." David told her. "So are you new here? I've never seen you before."

"I actually have my first piccolo lesson today at five." Gracie said.

"Isn't it five now?" David asked taking his flute apart and carefully putting it back in its case.

"Oh no!" Gracie cried scrambling to her feet. "I have to go."

"Well bye Gracie!" David said. "It was nice meeting you! Have fun at your piccolo lesson!"

"Thanks." Gracie called over her shoulder as she rushed to room 102. "Nice you meeting you too!"

"How was it?" Monica asked when Gracie came back out.

"David or the piccolo lesson?" Gracie responded.

"Both."

"David was fine." Gracie said. "He's really talented."

"Yes God gave David a wonderful gift." Monica said.

"He sure did." Gracie responded.

"And how was your piccolo lesson?"

"Let's just say if I could play half as well as David, he probably wouldn't despise me as much as he does."

"Oh he probably doesn't despise you Gracie." Monica said.

"Yea and maybe you don't like coffee." Gracie joked. Monica cracked a smile.

"Let's go." Monica said getting up from the stone step and walking towards the parked red Cadillac. "Hopefully tomorrow's lesson will go better."

"Don't remind me." Gracie groaned.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hi David!" Gracie chirped when she saw him the next day. He was sitting in room 105 putting his flute away.

"Hi Gracie." David smiled. "How was you're your lesson yesterday?"

"Other than the fact that my teacher hates me, pretty well." Gracie sighed.

"Whose your teacher?" David questioned.

"I forgot." Gracie admitted. "It starts with a C…"

"Oh you have Mr. Clayton." David chuckled. "He just acts like he hates his students but he really doesn't."

"Well then he's a pretty good actor." Gracie joked.

"Sorry to cut our conversation short Gracie, but I really have to go." David told her.

"Where are you going?"

"I have football practice."

"You play football?" Gracie asked. David didn't really look or seem like the football type.

"Well not yet." David said. "Try-outs are next Friday so my school is holding pre-tryout practices."

"Are you any good?"

"I'm very good actually." David bragged. "I might play football better than I play the flute."

"Wow!" Gracie exclaimed.

"Yea well football runs in the family." David said. "My father played it and all my brothers and cousins play it."

"And now you're going to play it."

"I hope so." David shrugged. "Hey Gracie didn't your piccolo lesson start ten minutes ago?"

As if on cue a plump bald man in his late forties barged in.

"Gracie!" Mr. Clayton bellowed. "I thought you said you were going to be on time today."

"I was but then…" Gracie stammered.

"You decided you would rather flirt with Mr. Munley here?" Mr. Clayton smirked. David's face reddened and Gracie's throat tightened with anger. She was _not_ flirting! This music teacher was not making her assignment any easier.

"Let's go Gracie we have a lot to do today." Mr. Clayton said satisfied with the reaction he got his students. Then turning on his heel, he left the room.

"Have fun at football practice." Gracie said on her way out.

"And good luck with Mr. Clayton." David replied.

"If I see one more piccolo note I am going to vomit." Gracie told Monica as she buckled her seat belt.

"I assume today's lesson didn't go so well?"

"It was terrible. Mr. Clayton had me do this one scale that he knew I couldn't play and that's what we did the whole time."

"How was David?"

"He was telling me about how great he was at playing football."

"Football?"

"That's what I thought. Apparently it runs in his family. Like all his relatives play it."

"That's interesting."

"Yea it is."

"Do you want to grab some coffee? Monica asked starting the car..

"Does my piccolo teacher hate me?" Gracie responded with a giggle.

"Very funny Gracie."

"I know."


	3. Chapter 3

Brushing the hair out of her eyes Gracie played the B flat concert scale…for the thirty second time in a row.

"Again." Mr. Clayton told her.

"Again!" Gracie screeched. "I've already played it like a million times!"

"So I guess playing it a million and one times won't really make a difference will it?" Mr. Clayton smirked.

"Unless my fingers fall of first!" Gracie retorted lifting her piccolo up to her lips. She knew that she should be more careful about watching her mouth, but she found it pretty hard at the moment. After fumbling through a few more scales Mr. Clayton finally stopped her.

"That will be all for today." He told her, turning of the metronome. "Keep on practicing."

Gracie could not get out of there fast enough. Just as she was about to go outside Gracie saw David out of the corner of her eye. He was staring at a poster on the wall.

"Hey David!" Gracie greeted her friend. "What are you looking at?"

"Oh hey Gracie." David smiled. "I'm just looking at the details for the up coming music festival."

"What music festival?"

"Every year Miss Barnaby's school of music holds a music festival." David informed her. "I did it last year. It's a lot of fun."

"So are you going to do it this year?" Gracie asked.

"I wish I could but…" David trailed off.

"But what?'

"It's the exact same day as football tryouts."

"So you're going to tryout for football instead.' Gracie said.

"It's not like I don't want to do the music festival Gracie but, I'm really good at football. This might be my only chance to do it."

"You're really good at playing the flute too." Gracie pointed out.

David pondered this for a moment. "I have to go Gracie." He finally said.

"Can I come with you?" Gracie asked. She had to admit she was a little bit curious about David's 'amazing' football skills. "I would love to see you play."

"That would be cool and all Gracie," David said running his hand through his thick dark hair, "But I don't think that would be such a great idea."

"Why not?" Gracie asked.

"It might distract the other players if we had and audience." David said.

"Please may I come?" Gracie wailed, her eyes filled with plea.

"No!" David snapped, his voice as cold as ice.

"Okay fine!" Gracie said calmly. "There's no need to yell."

"I know, I know," David said. "I'm sorry Gracie. It's just that I really don't want you to come right now. Maybe another time you can see me play but right now I really need to focus."

With that David turned on his heel and left the music school. Gracie watched him go.

"What are you thinking Gracie." Monica said from behind her. "You have your thinking face on."

"I'm thinking that there's something he's not telling me." Gracie said, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "And I also think I'm going to find out what it is." And without waiting for her supervisor to reply Gracie left the building. She didn't want to be late for football practice.


	4. Chapter 4

_Ouch!_ Gracie thought as she watched David get tackled by a huge quarterback. Again. For the twenty minutes Gracie had been watching David all she had seen was him do was drop passes, get tackled, and trip over his own feet. Now she saw why he had told her not to come to his practice.

"Is there a reason you're hiding behind these bushes?" Gracie jumped at the sound of her supervisors voice.

"Well… I'm kind of not supposed to be here right now." Gracie said blushing like crazy.

"Gracie!" Monica scolded. "I really think you should have some respect for people's privacy!"

"Well if he isn't going to tell me…" Gracie started.

"That's not the point …" But Monica was cut off.

"Gracie who are you talking to?" Gracie turned around and came eye to eye with David.

"No one" She told him.

"What are you doing here?" His voice was cold and hard like ice. "I told you not to come here." The rest of the team was starting to gather around them.

"You also told me that you were good at football but I guess I shouldn't have listened to that either." Gracie snapped back. It was only a second later when Gracie realized what she had said and how mean it was. Whispers started spreading among David's teammates as David's eyes began to fill with tears.

"David I'm sorry I didn't mean it…" Gracie stuttered.

"Then why did you say it?" David snapped taking of his helmet and tossing it onto the ground. Turning around he pushed passed his teammates and made a full sprint towards the locker rooms. It was the fasted Gracie had seen him run the entire time she had been watching him play.

"David I'm sorry!" Gracie called after him. But it was too late.

"Can't I just skip today's lesson?" Gracie whined to Monica the next day as they pulled up to the music school.

"What?" Monica said with an exaggerated gasp. "I thought you loved piccolo lessons!" She joked. When Gracie didn't respond Monica frowned.

"What's wrong Gracie?" she asked.

"I messed up with David yesterday." Gracie admitted with a sigh. "I said something I shouldn't have said and now I'm afraid he won't talk to me."

"Well its time to go in there and make things right." Monica said.

"What if I screw up again?" Gracie said.

"Gracie, this world is full of 'what ifs' but we can't let them stop us." Monica answered.

"I know." Gracie said grabbing her piccolo case off of the back seat and opening the car door.

As Gracie walked up the stone steps to the building she closed her eyes and said a short prayer.

"Dear God," she whispered. "Please help me to do this right." And with that Gracie stepped inside, ready to face the music.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey." Gracie said as she walked into room 105. David stopped playing his flute for a second, looked at her, and then continued playing.

"I understand that you don't want to talk to me," Gracie said, trying to make her voice heard over the music. "But I want to say that I'm sorry. I should have respected your wishes and just stayed away from your practice. And I shouldn't have said what I said and embarrassed you in front of your teammates." Gracie paused long enough to take a breath, which was weird because she hadn't realized she had been holding it.

"I was wrong to say that." She finished.

"But you weren't wrong." David said putting down his. "I can't play football and everyone knows it."

"What are you talking about David?" Gracie asked pulling up a chair to sit next to him.

"All my life I've been surrounded by football players, my Dad, my Brother, my Cousins and Uncles, just about everyone can play better than me!"

"Is that why you wanted to play?"

"I guess so. Everyone told me that the flute was for wusses. I wanted to do something that won't make me the family joke. Sometimes I feel as if it's a punishment that I can play the flute." David sighed.

"But it's not a punishment David!" Gracie exclaimed. "It's a gift. It's Gods gift to you."

"What are you talking about Gracie?" David asked.

"David I'm an Angel." Gracie said.

"What?"

"I'm an Angel David." Gracie said again.

"Yea I heard you." David said. "But what?"

"God has given you the talent to the flute David." Gracie continued. "He doesn't mean for it to be a punishment, he doesn't want for you to be embarrassed. He wants you to enjoy it, embrace it, and use it to glorify Him."

"So what should I do?" David asked.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?" Gracie asked.

"I don't want to play football anymore. I really don't." David responded. "I don't know how many more times I can be tackled with out going insane." He said with a small smile. Gracie also smiled.

Just then Mr. Clayton barged in.

"Gracie. Hurry up!" He said, sounding out every syllable. "We still have to plan what we are going to for the musical festival on Friday, which means we only have a week to figure out what you are going to do and you can barely play a scale!"

"Mr. Clayton can I suggest we do something a bit different for the music festival?" Gracie asked standing up and walking towards the door.

"And what would that be?" Mr. Clayton asked.

"You'll see." Gracie responded. Then turning to David she said, "Will I be seeing you next Friday David?"

"Yea." He said with a smile. "I'll be there." And with that he lifted his flute back to his lips and continued to play.


	6. Chapter 6

Where could Gracie be? Monica thought to herself as she entered the auditorium where the music festival was taking place. A beautiful piano piece was being played greeted her. Monica looked around the room for her caseworker and then stopped at the pianist. Gracie was sitting on the black wooden bench her fingers flying across the keys. A look of determination was on her face as the song came to a finish. Monica clapped the loudest when the song was over.

"You didn't tell me that you could play the piano!" Monica exclaimed, when Gracie appeared by his side.

"You never asked." Gracie shrugged. "Now shhh. David is next!" The audience quieted down as David took the stage. He silently grabbed the microphone from the stand and tapped it twice to make sure the sound was working. Everyone groaned and covered their ears as a high pitched squeal filled the room.

"Sorry." David blushed. "Before I play a song on my flute for you, I wanted to say something. Today at this time I was supposed to be trying out for my school's football team," he started. "It took me a while to realize that football wasn't for me. I realized that I only wanted to play it because everyone in my family did and I guess I wanted to be like the rest of the guys in my family. Then someone made me realize that I have a gift for playing the flute." David paused long enough to flash Gracie a quick smile before he continued. "A gift from God. And I want to embrace it not hide it, and I want to use it to glorify Him. So the song I am going to play for you now is called Thankful."

Setting down the mic, David sat down, lifted his flute to his lips and began to play. Gracie smiled. David seemed to be enjoying himself which was great. The song was great too.

"Well done." Monica said to David when the concert was done.

"Thank you Ms…" David replied.

"Call me Monica." Monica told him.

"Yea great job David." Gracie said.

"You too. And so I guess I'll see you at next weeks lesson? You should totally switch from piccolo to piano. You're really great at it." David smiled.

"I wish I could but I have to go." Gracie said.

"Go where?"

"To someone who needs me. Someone who needs to know God."

"Will I ever see you again?"

"I dunno." Gracie said shaking her head.

"Well thanks for everything." David said.

"Thank God." Gracie replied.

"Right."

"So are you ready to go?" Monica said interrupting the conversation.

"Yep." Gracie replied. She turned to David. "Bye David." Then she followed Monica out the heavy wooden doors of the music school.  
"Bye Gracie." He replied as Monica and Gracie disappear into the night.


End file.
